The REd Tornado - She Was IN The Jusice Society...kind of!

Happy Saturday and more from "A 'Slight' History of Golden Age Comic Book Super Heroes" as I present the last "Red Tornado" story in my library. This one's from "All American Comics #47!

Check out this bit of Sheldon Mayer fun and hang on tight for another treat at the end!

As I've stated before, as a young reader of the early 1970's Ma Hunkel's Red Tornado was only hinted at. A curious counterpart to DC's Earth One Red Tornado who was is an android and much different than Ma Hunkel in every way. There were a few pin-ups of the Justice Society and the always seemed to include Hunkel, but in the great sea of mish-mashed reprints in the backs of the comics available to me, NEVER a Hunkel reprint...including in reprints of stroies of the JSA! Where the heck WAS she???

Well, it turns out she DID make an appearance in the annals of the JSA, in fact in their very first adventure. "All Star Comics" #3 which would be the very first appearance of the very first super hero team ever, even telling the story of their first gathering, featured a cameo by the great Ma Hunkel.

H'yar is that cameo...

So see? If not for a little modesty on the lady's part, Ma Hunkel could very well have been that leader of the Justice Society.

Instead of that pompous Hawkman!

Talk to you soon

The GOLDEN AGE Red Tornado, That's Who! - All American Comics!

Beating a dead horse? NO, just revelling in some pure Sheldon Mayer fun that we've been denied for 70 years or so with Ma Hunkel, the ORIGINAL Red Tornado, is all!

Here's "All American Comics" numbers 48 and 59.

Enjoy!

Talk to you soon.

That's Ma Hunkel to YOU - All American Comics - The Red Tornado!

OK, see how out of practice I am? The Red Tornado stories I posted yesterday are completely out of order. The stories yesterday are from "All American Comics" issues #49 and #52.

Now to prove the old driving on ice, steer into the skid...I reckon I'll keep throwing them at ya this way. Here's RT from #38 and #46...THAT oughta flip ya!

Sheldon Mayer's li'l 4 pagers are fun no matter what!

Enjoy!

Talk to you soon.

All American Comics - "The Red Tornado"!

I've been trying to get back to my drawing board, but I just can't get up the gumption of late. I don't want that to hold up my "A 'Slight' History of Golden Age Comic Book Super Heroes" attempt here, and what's more...I feel guilty when my blog goes dark for a day.

So forging ahead and trying to get the creative juices flowing, let's continue with the heroes in "All American Comics" and see what sparks in the old man's mind.

I've always had an affinity for the oddball characters. Not the ones blazing across the covers of books, but of the hard working stiffs wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy in the back pages. As a kid in the 1970's reading "The Justice League of America", whenever they would have crossovers with The Justice Society of America here would be references to forgotten heroes that I longed to see in action. Colorfully costumed and colorfully storied in their legends, some were only hinted at in "pinups" or in one panel flashbacks.

One of these was a character who popped up as a side character in a humor strip by Sheldon Mayer called "Scribbly", and with the popularity of super heroes in general, shortly took over the strip himself...er...HERself...

Ma Hunkel..."The Red Tornado"!

With the digital age of information upon us, I finally (after 40-some years) got to read a small batch of this feature.

I was NOT disapointed. I think I'll post them all here over the next few days.

I hope you dig Shelly's work as much as I do.

Talk to you soon...hopefully with my pen in hand, but 'til then these feel pretty good.

Sheldon Mayer - Boy Cartoonist

Born April 1, 1917, Sheldon Mayer would have been 93 years old today!

Sheldon Mayer entered the world of the comic book while it was still being born. In 1935 (Mayer was 17 or 18 at the time) Sheldon west to work for what was to become DC comics when it was just forming, when comics still were mostly reprints of newspaper strips. Sheldon was already contributing original material (fillers - they were called) and became one of the first comic book artists ever.

He drew a semi-autobiographical feature called "Scribbly" which lasted all the way through the golden age and would even become later the home of the golden age Red Tornado as the strip wore on. Here's the Scribbly story from All American Comics #12:

Sheldon did more than cartoon and write for the burgeoning comic book field, he was also "Boy Editor" for the line. He was instrumental in developing All American Comics and that brand, helping develop the characters of Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and others and on into the Silver Age of comic books. It's Sheldon who is credited with rescuing the oft-rejected Superman feature from the ash-can. Sheldon sang Superman's praises to his bosses even after everyone in town had turned it down for 3 years, and got the thing published. Luckily for his bosses, Seigel and Shuster just happened to work for the same company.

As I said he continued to work in comic books his entire life as editor, artist and writer. My first memories of Sheldon were with his feature "Sugar and Spike", two infants who could understand each other, but the adults in their world could not.

Here's Sugar and Spike #76:

I'm still learning all the areas Sheldon impacted comics and all the work he put out during an almost 40 year career. Every time I see his stuff though, it's instantly recognizable.

Thanks Sheldon, for keeping the "funny" in Funny Books!